Many Leeds fans are asking questions after being pencilled in for the 12:30pm slot on Sunday.
Daniel Farke himself also bemoaned the scheduling during his press conference on Friday ahead of the clash against Manchester United, asking why Ruben Amorim was given two more days to prepare his side for their trip to Elland Road.
The Leeds boss said: “I hope they (his players) can recover quickly and we’ll see probably some late decisions for Sunday, when we have the earliest possible kick-off, straight after breakfast, more or less, why ever this is after a late evening kick-off today (Thursday evening at Anfield).
“So Man United… two days already on the sofa, whatever. We will find solutions for this fixture and at Elland Road, even if the legs will be a bit tight, we also have a chance, and we’ll go for it again on Sunday.”
Leeds United News can now reveal why Farke has to deal with the 12:30pm slot as opposed to a later time on Sunday.
TNT Sports to blame for lack of Leeds United preparation time ahead of Manchester United clash
Basically, it is the fault of the broadcasters.
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He's turned it around!
An announcement back at the end of October confirmed this fixture had been selected to be screened by broadcasters, with TNT Sports winning the right to show this historic rivalry.
However, they could only fill up the early slot as opposed to the later 5:30pm position, as Sky Sports will be screening Manchester City vs Chelsea at that time.
You might be wondering why those two fixtures could not be swapped.
The Premier League have a rule where they aim to give clubs at least 60 hours between games. Seeing as Manchester City kicked off even later than Leeds on Thursday – facing Sunderland at 8pm and finishing close to 10pm – it was agreed upon that the Citizens get the Sunday evening slot instead.
It is hardly an ideal situation for Farke – even more so as Ethan Ampadu is suspended for this game – but confidence should be high nonetheless after six games without defeat.
Ilia Gruev and Sebastiaan Bornauw might be victims of short Leeds United turnaround
Ilia Gruev made his first start since the 3-2 defeat at Manchester City when lining up at Anfield, while it was a first ever Premier League start for Sebastiaan Bornauw following the injury to Joe Rodon at Sunderland.
Who should replace Ampadu against Manchester United? 🤔
The options will be scarce if Gruev needs a rest… 😬
Farke hinted that the pair could therefore struggle to cope with starting yet again against Manchester United given the lack of match practice, saying: “We have to see how he (Gruev) recovers also from this workload and then see what we will do.
“For Sebastiaan’s first game in the starting line-up, for Ilia, first game since a while, they have invested a lot.”
Hopefully, the pair are able to feature, as they both played a key role in helping Leeds frustrate Liverpool on Thursday night.
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